An annual ranking of countries’ information technology systems shows the U.S. falling to fifth as Sweden rose to the top and developing countries such as China and India made significant gains.

Associated Press

A worker installs fiber optics in Vermont.

The rankings, produced by the World Economic Forum and international business school Insead, do not only reflect how many people use technology. They take into account more than 50 factors, such as venture capital availability, technology laws, math and science education and broadband usage.

Using the data, which have now been collected for nine years, “you can prove that broadband penetration actually helps development,” said Soumitra Dutta, one of the report’s co-editors and a professor at Insead. It’s an important point as the FCC and the Obama administration look to boost high-speed Internet availability. In the report, the U.S. ranks 22nd in the percentage of people with broadband Internet subscriptions.

The countries that lead this year’s list do not come as a surprise; although the order was slightly different, the top five countries — which also included Singapore, Denmark and Switzerland — were the same last year. The U.S., which fell from third place, last held the first-place spot in 2005. But the report says the U.S. is “one of the world’s most innovative countries,” as reflected by the patents it produces. Usage of technology, particularly by businesses, is high, although the country ranks 72nd in the percentage of people who have mobile subscriptions.

Although the countries at the top of the list are universally wealthy, less-developed countries such as China and India are moving up quickly. China has progressed the most since the first report was released in 2002, rising to 37th place from 64th, while India has moved to 43rd place from 54th. In that time, the U.S. has slipped from first place.

The World Economic Forum, probably best known for its yearly conference in Davos, Switzerland, surveyed 133 countries for this year’s report and also used data from organizations such as the United Nations.